PERM is a U.S. Department of Labor certification confirming that no available U.S. workers can fill the offered position. The ETA-9089 application is filed by the employer, not the employee. An approved certification is valid for 180 days — within that time the employer must file an I-140 petition with USCIS, and only then does the path to a green card open.
A permanent job offer in New York or New Jersey is a turning point for many people. The boss is happy, wants to keep the employee for years and asks “what do we need to sign.” The answer is longer than one form. Employment-based sponsorship is a procedure with several stages, and every document must match the one before it — from the job description, through the recruitment ads, to the wage paid throughout the case.
This applies both to people who are already in the United States and to those who live in Poland and are only planning to come. At the law office of attorney Przemysław Jan Bloch, employment cases make up about 80 percent of the caseload — including cases of people with university degrees, but also of workers in positions that require no special qualifications. Below we describe what this path looks like and where obstacles most often appear.
What the PERM procedure looks like — from the job description to the certification
The first stage is a precise definition of the position: duties, requirements, place of work and wage. The requirements must reflect the realities of the labor market rather than be “tailored” to one particular person. The Department of Labor sets the prevailing wage for the occupation and region — the offered wage cannot be lower.
The second stage is test recruitment. The regulations (20 CFR 656.17) require, among other things, a 30-day job order with the State Workforce Agency and two print advertisements in a Sunday newspaper. For positions requiring a university degree, the employer must also choose three of ten listed additional recruitment steps, such as an ad on the company website or participation in a job fair. All recruitment must fit within a set time window before the application is filed.
Importantly, recruitment is not a formality. If a candidate from the U.S. labor market who meets the minimum requirements of the position responds to the ad, the employer cannot simply ignore them — the application must be considered in good faith, and the reasons why the candidate does not qualify must be documented. Recruitment records are kept and may be reviewed by the Department of Labor, so every ad, interview and reply to a candidate should leave a clear trail.
The third stage is the certification application itself, on Form ETA-9089. As the Department of Labor’s description of the PERM program emphasizes, filing the application is the responsibility of the employer, not the employee. The filing date becomes the priority date, which later determines your place in the visa queue. Once approved, the certification is valid for 180 days — if it is not submitted to USCIS together with an I-140 petition within that time, it expires.
What determines the cost and duration of an employment case?
The cost of a PERM case cannot honestly be stated as a single amount. It includes recruitment advertising, government fees at the I-140 stage and later applications, and the law firm’s fee, which depends on the complexity of the case. By law, some of the costs related to labor certification are borne by the employer — one of the reasons why a conversation about sponsorship should start with giving the sponsor a full picture of the obligations.
The duration depends on three factors: how quickly the Department of Labor processes applications, how quickly USCIS handles the I-140 petition, and the visa queue in the given category. The last element is visible in the monthly Visa Bulletin — in the EB-3 category for so-called unskilled workers (Other Workers), the annual pool is limited to 10,000 visas, which can lengthen the wait. We explain how to read these tables in the guide how to read the Visa Bulletin and check your priority date.
The sponsor’s financial condition matters too. The employer must show the ability to pay the offered wage from the priority date until the case is completed. That is why a job offer should first be assessed for whether the petition has a real chance of approval — before the sponsor and the employee invest time and money. A small renovation company in Queens with a few employees can sponsor a worker just like a large corporation, but its financial records have to support it.
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A green card through employment while living in Poland
A person living in Poland does not have to be in the U.S. for the employer to start the PERM procedure. After the certification and the I-140 petition are approved, and once the priority date becomes “current” in the Visa Bulletin, the case moves to the National Visa Center and then to a consular interview. Since November 1, 2025, the State Department requires immigrant visa applicants to interview in their country of nationality or residence — for residents of Poland this generally means the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw.
Before the interview, applicants must have a medical exam with a physician designated by the embassy — in Poland, the list includes practices in Warsaw and Kraków, and results from other doctors are not accepted. Required documents include a birth certificate with an English translation and a police certificate from the country of residence. A single missing document can delay the visa by months. Immediate family members — spouse and children — go through the same consular stage, so it is worth gathering their documents in parallel rather than waiting for the interview notice.
People who already live in New York — in Greenpoint, Ridgewood or on Staten Island — may in some situations apply for adjustment of status without leaving the U.S. Not everyone has that option, however: it depends on the history of their stay and status. Which path is available is decided by an analysis of the specific case. Those who would rather run their own business than take a job may find the guide on the E-2 investor visa for Polish citizens useful.
How to prepare for your first consultation at the law office
- The job description from the employer. Job title, duties, working hours and offered wage. The more precise the description, the faster it can be assessed in which category (EB-2 or EB-3) the case can proceed.
- Documents proving education and experience. Diplomas, employment certificates, references. Experience gained in Poland counts too, but it must be documented in a way a U.S. agency can understand.
- Information about the sponsoring company. How long it has been operating, how many employees it has, what its financial results look like. This is the basis for assessing whether the employer can show the ability to pay the wage throughout the process.
- Your history of stay in the U.S. Dates of entry, types of visas, any extensions or overstays. This information decides whether the green card can be obtained in the U.S. or through a consulate.
- A list of questions and family members. A spouse and children may be included in the case as accompanying family members — it is worth preparing their details and civil status documents right away.
Attorney Przemysław Jan Bloch has handled immigration cases continuously since 1998 — see the full range of matters handled by the firm.
The most common mistakes that delay PERM cases
The first mistake is requirements set above the needs of the position or matched to one person. The agency may question them, and fixing this often means repeating the recruitment. The second is inconsistency: a different job title in the ad, another in the application, a different wage in the company’s records. A small discrepancy can set a case back by many months.
The third mistake concerns deadlines. A certification valid for 180 days, recruitment time windows, dates in the Visa Bulletin — missing any of them can mean starting the procedure over. That is why employment cases require watching the calendar from the first day to the last.
A fourth, often underestimated problem is changing jobs during the case. A PERM certification relates to a specific employer and a specific position. Leaving the company before the procedure is complete, changing the scope of duties or selling the business can affect the outcome. Before the employee accepts another offer, or the sponsor decides to reorganize, it is worth checking what effect this will have on the petition.
Employment sponsorship is today one of the most predictable paths to permanent residence for people with a job offer — provided every stage is carefully prepared. This applies to construction workers and caregivers as much as to engineers, IT specialists or accountants.
If your employer is willing to sponsor you, the best time to talk is before the first recruitment ad is published. Schedule a consultation with Przemysław Jan Bloch, P.C.: 718-522-6773
Every case requires an individual assessment — please contact Przemysław Jan Bloch, P.C. about your situation. This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
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